Hawthorne Heights Travel Back in Time @ The Rockpile West

On Saturday, April 18,  Hawthorne Heights brought everyone at The Rockpile West back to 2004. All the way from Dayton, Ohio, JT Woodruff, Matt Ridenour, and Mark McMillon had made their way across Ontario to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of The Silence in Black and White.

As soon as they walked on the stage I felt a sense of nolstagia wash over me. With the stage lights focused on the band and instruments in hand it was time to start.

Hawthorne Heights wasted no time and launched right into playing the album front to back, starting off with “Life on Standby” followed by “Dissolve & Decay” and “Niki FM” directly after. From the looks of it everyone was enjoying themselves including the band.

The crowd during their set was quiet interesting. While the venue wasn’t as full or as packed as I imagined it, there was still a decent amount of people watching them. While I’d say 50 – 60% of the crowd were fans, the other half were people who just happened to be there because their friend was in an opening band. There weren’t many crowd surfers or moshing going on at all, unless you count the drunk fans bumping into everyone In the crowd (and on stage) holding mini pitchers of beer.

One of my favourite moments of the night was when a drunk fan tried to take multiple selfies with JT all while spilling a mini pitcher of beer all over the amp. Clearly annoyed JT said what a lot of people were thinking. Which was something in the lines of “in 2004 there weren’t smart phones so lets take it back to 2004 and enjoy the music”. After that was said everyone cheered.

Dispite the small crowd Hawthorne Heights were amazing as always. Here’s to hoping that the next time they come to Toronto they get the proper crowd they deserve.

Once they were done playing The Silence in Black and White in its entirety, ending off with “Speeding up the Octaves”, Hawthorne Heights played a mix of songs from newer albums, some of which included “This is Who We Are”, “Oceans”, “Saying Sorry”, and “Pens and Needles.”

Before the last song of the night JT thanked the crowd for coming out to support them and let everyone know that they would be coming back soon.

Hawthorne Height’s finished the night off with fan favourite “Ohio Is For Lovers.”

And just like that, it was the end of the set. Seems like just yesterday that I was sitting in my room at my parents house playing their CD’s full blast, that is why when JT mentioned to the crowd stick around after the set if anyone would want the meet/hangout with them, I jumped at the chance. After getting a few pictures and a newly bought vinyl signed, I would definitely have to say this was one nostalgic night.

Watch Hawthorne Heights’ single for “Ohio is for Lovers” below!